


The Guides

by Monkeygirl77



Series: A Guiding Force [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: :D, Axel is fifteen going on twenty five, Board Games, Character(s) of Color, Game of Life, God works in mysterious ways, Gods playing with fate, He needs his four archangels to be a family again, He's not a douche, Healer Raphael (Supernatural), Human Archangels, I know what it is, Jamie is an adorable five year old, Lifes like a game of chess, Male Character of Color, Michael's not a douche either, No parents, Or Gabriel, Raphael's his favorite, Set after metatron kicks the angels out of heaven, Something bad happened in the back room, Sort Of, They're weak right now, Two kids looking out for each other, Two young souls who have seen too much, You'll Find Out Why Later, anyway, but you'll have to wait to find out, depowered?, he's just grumpy, is that a word, lets pretend it is, not sorry, or lucifer, sometimes, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:21:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27954545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monkeygirl77/pseuds/Monkeygirl77
Summary: God's always playing with the strings behind the scenes, when the angels are all cast from Heaven by Metatron, He brings His four Archangels together, hoping they'll remember how to be a family again, that they'll work together to gain control of Heaven back, and allow the angels to return. He assumes they'll need some help, so sends them a pair of guides, none of them know it yet, but they're destinies are intertwined.With all of it set up perfectly, God sits back, takes a sip from His glass, and just waits for it all to play out.
Relationships: Gabriel & Lucifer & Michael & Raphael (Supernatural)
Series: A Guiding Force [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048675
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. Stranger Danger? We Don't Know Her.

“Axy, when are we gonna get home?” The five year old next to him whines. “It’s freezing!”

Axel laughs softly, squinting to see through the rain beating down on them, the only light on this dark dirt road being from the lightning illuminating the sky above them. “Put my coat on then, the heaters out in this piece of junk, there’s nothing else I can do, Jam.”

The small boy huffs, tugging his older brother’s thick coat around his thin shoulders, crossing his arms petulantly, giggling when the older boy reaches over to poke him in the belly. “No pouting, Jam, you know that.”

“Not pouting! Not pouting!”

“You better not be.”

Jamie giggles, curling his brother’s coat around himself even more, pulling his legs up to wrap the coat around himself complete. “Are we there yet?”

“Does it look like we’re there?”

He huffs softly. “No.”

“Then, no, we’re not there yet.” Axel leans forward, the windshield wipers of their old ancient pickup truck going full throttle, and he can still barely see. “I can hardly see, Jam, you’re wearing your seat belt, right?”

“Yep.”

“Good boy.”

Jamie falls silently, comfortable now, curled up in his older brother’s thick coat, and stares out the window before him, humming under his breath a tune he had learned in music class at school. Lightning lights up the road and his eyes widen, he jumps forward, pointing at something. “Watch out!”

Axel slams on the breaks, and they skid in the mud, rolling to a slow stop. He leans forward, to see what it is his little brother had seen, and he jumps back, when lightning flashes, and a person is illuminated standing in the middle of the road. “Holy _shit_!” He quickly turns to the five year old next to him. “Don’t _ever_ say that word!” He puts their truck in park and pushes the door open with a creak. “Stay here, Jamie.” And hops out, slamming the door closed behind him, Jamie bites his lip, what if they’re a bad guy, he doesn’t want Axel to be all alone out there with a bad guy, he’d need back up.

Shrugging his brother’s coat off, he pushes his door open too, hopping out, stumbling as he lands, and pushes his door shut too, running around the side of the truck, he rams himself into his older brother’s leg, holding on tight, he yelps, stumbling forward. “Jamie, I told you to stay!”

The five year old looks up at his older brother. “I came to protect you just in case they was a bad guy!”

“Okay, okay, stay behind me then, understand?”

Jamie nods, peeking out from behind his brother’s leg, as the man in the middle of the road approaches. He looks him over carefully, he’s got golden eyes, golden brown hair, soaked from the rain, hanging over his shoulders, and he smiles down at him when he catches him staring, he hides back behind his brother’s leg again.

Axel reaches around to his younger brother, as though to push him back, to protect him from this stranger standing before them. “Who the hell are you? Are you freaking nuts! Standing in the middle of the street like that! You’re lucky we didn’t hit you!”

The man chuckles softly. “You didn’t though, so it’s all good, no harm, no foul. Sorry if I frightened you.” He gestures behind him. “We’re stuck, you know a place where we can get out of the storm?”

The teenager blinks, squinting into the darkness over the stranger’s shoulder, lightning flashes, and he sees three more standing a few paces behind him. “Who are you?”

He smiles. “The names Gabriel, you can call me Gabe, those back there are my brothers.”

“Are you, like, the perverted type, no wait, don’t answer that, of course you’d say _no_ , dumb question.” Axel rubs his curls back. “You guys got nowhere to go?”

Gabriel shakes his head. “Nope, we’re a _long_ way from home, and can’t seem to get back anytime soon.”

“You guys in some sorta trouble?”

The man shakes his head again. “No, no, we’re not in any trouble. Our home is….under construction.”

“Under construction?”

“Yep. Currently unavailable.”

The teenager huffs, he knows about stranger danger, he shouldn’t be inviting people into their home, but mom raised him well, treat thy neighbor how you want to be treated, and all that jazz.

Jamie tugs on his pant leg and he looks down at him. “They can come with us, Axy.”

Axel sighs, rubbing at his face, rubbing water out of his eyes. “Right, okay, yea, you can come with us, but the first sign of any funny business and I’m gonna kick your asses and you’ll be on your own. The cabs small, so, you’ll have to figure something out, it won’t fit both of us and four men.”

Gabriel smiles at him. “We’ll work it out.” He waves over his shoulders. “Come on up guys.” Axel pushes his younger brother back when three more men come up behind the man before them and Gabriel turns back towards him. “These are my brothers.” He gestures to a tall man with dark hair and a slight beard. “That’s Michael.” Points to the one next to them, a pale man, blonde ruffled hair, ice blue eyes. “This is Lucifer.”

Jamie squeaks, peeking out, reaching out to curl his fingers around his brother’s. “Like, the Devil Lucifer, that Lucifer?”

The blonde man looks down at him and he scoots back slightly. “That a problem, short stack?”

“No! That’s so cool!”

The blonde man smiles, bewildered, and looks away. Gabriel grins, gesturing to an African American man on his other side, tall, like the others were, bright green eyes watching them closely, well built, but lean. “This is Raphael.” He nods to the two of them. “How about your names?”

The teenager raises his hand. “Axel.”

The small child waves a hand at them and they smile, waving back slightly. “I’m Jamie!”

“Come on,” Axel jerks his head towards their truck. “Let’s get outta the rain, Jamie’ll get sick, and he’s a brat when he’s sick.”

“Am not!”

“Are too.”

He turns, hearing the squelching of mud as the four men follow after them, Axel pulls his door open and steps up. “Figure out the seating arrangements.” Jamie opens his door and climbs in carefully, scooting over as far as he could, pulling his brother’s coat along with him. Raphael climbs in after him, scooting over closer to them too, Gabriel climbs in after him, and Michael behind him, Lucifer grumbles. “Scoot over!”

Gabriel peers around his brother. “There’s no more room.”

Axel rolls his eyes, looking down at his younger brother, Jamie looks up at him in turn. “Jam, sit in Raphael’s lap so he can scoot over for Lucifer to get in.” The five year turns to look up at the African American man, and he sighs, lifting the small boy up into his lap, scooting closer to the teenager, they were arm to arm, pressed in like sardines, and Jamie hums his tune again, pulling his brothers coat around himself once more, leaning back into their new friend’s chest, he looks down when he feels arms curl around him.

The door slams shut, and Axel heaves a sigh, shaking his head slightly to get the water out of his curls, and reached over to put the truck in gear, it spurts a bit, rattles, and creeps forward, until they’re making a good pace down the muddy road.

Jamie waits as patiently as a boy of five years old can wait, before turning to his brother. “Axy, are we there yet?”

“Jam, if you ask me that _one_ more time, I’m gonna kick you out, and leave you out here.”

“Will not!”

“Will to!”

“Will not, will not, will not!”

“Ask me again and find out.”

They hear a series of chuckles, Jamie giggles, and Axel smiles slightly, leaning forward to try and see passed the rain. “Sorry, the heaters out.”

Michael hums. “It’s alright, we’re just appreciative you’re offering us a roof over our heads.”

“Hey, man, treat thine neighbor and all that.”

Lucifer snorts softly. “Religious bunch?”

Axel doesn’t answer, but Jamie turns to look at him, and shakes his head. “Nope, not no more, momma said that the angels and God protected us, but they didn’t do nothin to stop daddy when he—”

“Jamie, be quite.”

The five year old turns quickly. “What! I was just sayin, they didn’t do nothin when daddy—”

“Jamie, I’m not gonna tell you again, be quite.” He jerks his head slightly. “Read your book.”

“But, I don’ wanna—”

“Read it, Jamie.”

The small boy huffs softly, leaning over on Raphael’s lap for his backpack on the floor, flopping back, apologizing when the man behind him grunts softly, and pulls his pack open, tugging a well-used story book out. “I don’ like you, Axy.”

“Want me to poke you again?”

He giggles, leaning away. “No!”

“Why don’t you read us your book?”

Jamie smiles brightly. “Okay!”

They ride in silence, save for the small boy carefully reading his book to them, for a long while, Axel leaning forward squinting through the rain pouring down over them, but soon enough, Jamie finishes his book, and leans back against his new friend again, watching the storm raging around them.

About an hour passes before they come to their destination, a small cabin, one level, and Axel brings the truck to a stop, puts it in park, and pulls the keys out. “Home sweet home, sorry, it’s kinda small, it’s usually just us.”

He pushes his door open and drops out, reaching back in for his little brother, Jamie climbs off Raphael’s lap, letting his older brother help him down, and he slams the door shut as the others trickle out from the other side.

Axel looks for the key, and nods, slipping it into the door handle and twists, unlocking the door, he pushes it open, flipping on the lights as he enters, Jamie runs around him to get inside. He stands aside, gesturing for the others to enter, and they pile in, listening to the teenager shut and lock the door behind them. He steps through them and gestures around. “Our place, is your place, make yourselves comfortable. Some of dad’s old clothes are in the back room, if you wanna change, bathrooms to the right, kitchens right there, we don’t have much to offer, but you’re welcome to it, that’s pretty much it.”

Jamie comes running down the hall in nothing but underwear.

Axel facepalms. “Jam, put some clothes on!”

“Where’s my batmans?”

“In the bathroom.”

“Okay!”

The four of them look around carefully, it’s small, sparse, the door to the back room is closed, and there’s a bed of blankets made up where the couch should have been, _that_ was pushed to the side.

Axel looks over his shoulder, lighting the fire in the fireplace. “Seriously, we’re not gonna kill you, make yourselves comfortable.”

They nod, stepping out of their muddy shoes, stepping further into the room, they pass him by the fireplace for the room in the back, to change out of their wet clothes. Something looms in the backroom, something heavy, they exchange glances, something _happened_ in this back room.

They all look around when the door slams open, Jamie smiles up at them brightly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Wanna play a game with me?”

Michael smiles, squatting down to his level. “What kind of game?”

“I dunno, we got lots!”

He nods. “We’d be happy to play a game with you, you go pick one out.”

The small child nods happily. “Okay!” And darts off.

Lucifer watches the boy disappear around the corner. “Cute kid.”

Gabriel snorts and elbows him. “ _You_ think a _human_ is _cute_?”

“I—I’m just saying, he’s alright, doesn’t seem as bad as the rest of them.”

Raphael hums softly. “He’s a bundle of energy.”

Michael straightens. “Aren’t all little ones?”

They exchange another look and step forward, they had a game to play, at the little one’s choosing. Axel’s stirring something in a large pot on the stove and Jamie’s setting up the game he’s chosen, his back facing the fire, a stuffed monkey resting next to him.

“Jam, come get your bowl.” The small boy jumps up, running around the island to get his bowl, and runs back to his spot, a bowl of spaghetti noodles, eating them happily. Axel sets four more bowls on the island and looks up at them for a moment. “Here, everyone’s gotta eat.” And, turns back to the pot to fill his own bowl. They thank him softly and take their bowls, turning to join the small boy a few paces away.

Jamie looks up at them and smiles, pointing at the third. “Sit next to me!”

Gabriel grins, elbowing his older brother in the side. “Someone _likes_ you, Raph.”

Raphael glares at him, but steps around to sit at the small boy’s side, Jamie smiles up at him and returns to his bowl. Michael sits across from them, Gabriel on his right, Lucifer on his left, and Axel squeezes in between his younger brother and the blonde man, chewing on a mouthful of noodles.

He swallows. “Okay, Jam, you go first.”

The child nods happily, reaching out for the dice, shakes them in his hands, and throws them down, moving his piece six places to the left, and passes the dice to his older brother, around they go, and they play for about thirty minutes before the youngest falls asleep, hugging his stuffed monkey, leaning against Raphael’s arm.

Axel sighs, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry. He does that when he likes you. He’ll fall asleep on anyone he likes.”

The African American man waves him off. “It’s alright, where should I put him?”

The teenager nods, gesturing to the bed of blankets. “You can set him there, don’t worry, he’s a deep sleeper.”

“Axel?” He looks over to Michael at the call of his name. “Why sleep out here if there’s a bed in the back room?”

The older boy looks away, turning his gaze to the flames in the fire place, something crosses his features, an expression, but they can’t place it, not quite, it’s something akin to an expression of someone who’s seen too much. “We don’t go back _there_.”


	2. Got A Secret, Can You Keep it, Swear, This One You'll Save

“Okay, Jam, do you remember where we keep the gun?”

“In the box by the fireplace.”

“Good job, do you remember how I showed you how to use it?”

“Yep, I remember, Axy.”

“Good, if _they_ try _anything,_ I want you to shoot them, you’re my priority, understand.”

“I understand, Axy.”

“Okay, I’m going to go get more food, if they’re gonna be stayin’, we’re gonna need more food.” Gabriel’s sleeping, but the older three lay awake, listening to the two boys conversation, it was wrong of them, to eavesdrop, but sometimes certain things couldn’t be helped. “I’m sorry, Jam, I was trying to save the money for your birthday, but we need it for something else more, I’ll try and make it up to you.”

They hear the small child give a sad little sigh. “I know. It’s okay, Axy. I wanna help, too.”

“I did get you a few things already, so it’s not so bad.”

“You did!”

“I did, I swear, but I can’t say what it is, it’s a surprise.”

“I like surprises!”

They hear the teenager laugh softly. “I know you do, okay, be good, keep your guard about you, you know where the gun is, your remember how to use it, be safe, okay, I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Okay, Axy.”

The door opens, filling the room with the sound of heavy rain, and closes again. Little feet patter against the hardwood floor, and they watch, from the fire light, as the little boy crawls back under his blankets, hugs his stuffed monkey close, and settles back down for more sleep.

…

They awaken to the sound of crunching, and sit up, rubbing at their faces.

“Hi!” Four heads turn in the direction of the small voice, Jamie smiles at them, waving in greeting, scooping more breakfast cereal into his mouth. “Axy says that you’re welcome to anything you can find, except for the Captain Crunch, ‘cause that’s mine, and I’m not sharin’ it.”

Gabriel stretches, pushing himself to his feet, looking around silently. “Where _is_ Axel?”

The child swallows his mouthful of food. “He went to get more food.”

Michael frowns lightly, pushing himself up too, stretching once he’s on his feet. “Does he leave you alone often?”

“Only when he’s gotta go out for food, but it’s okay, I’m not scared, and we gotta gun and I know how to use it.” He points his spoon at them. “So no funny business.” And returns his spoon to his bowl, hopping off his stool at the island, pulling his empty bowl off the counter, and reaches up to set it in the sink, then returns for his box of cereal, climbing up on the counter to put it away, and lowers four other boxes down with him. “You can have one of these ones.”

Jamie runs around the counter to return to his mound of blankets, reaching into the basket behind him for some toys, and watches them as they pour themselves bowls of cereal, and come over to join him on his padded seat.

Raphael swallows his bite of cereal. “When’s your birthday, Jamie?”

“Christmas Eve!”

Michael hums softly, and Lucifer swallows his own mouthful of cereal. “Kid, what happened in the backroom?”

Jamie doesn’t seem phased by the question, not like Axel was, and had no qualms about answering his question. “That’s where daddy hurt mommy really bad.” He runs his toy cars over his crossed legs. “Mommy went in with him and no one came back out.”

Gabriel frowns, lowering the spoon that had been half way to his mouth, giving the child his complete attention. “What _did_ your daddy do to your mommy?”

“I think he shooted her, there was a really loud bang, Axy grabbed my hand and said we had to run, so we ran out into the woods, and there was another really loud bang.” Jamie runs his cars around him. “Then there was people who came, I think it was because mommy didn’t go to work for two days, and we watched from a tree as more and more people came, they took two wheelie beds in and came back out with something on them covered in a white blanket. We hided in the woods for five days until they left and didn’t come back anymore, Axy said we had to stay out there for so long because they’d keep coming back to look for us and if they found us we wouldn’t be able to stay together anymore, so we waited until they stopped coming before coming back.”

They sit there in silence, the boy humming to himself softly, absorbing what they’d just been told, and exchange looks. “So…you guys stay here alone?”

“Yep! We don’t need nobody else! We didn’t need mommy or daddy either!”

Michael looks down at his empty bowl. “How old are you, Jamie?”

“I’m five!”

Raphael frowns slightly. “How old is Axel?”

“He’s fifteen!”

Two children were living on their own in a small cabin in the middle of the wood. _Children_. Who’d been here when they’d lost both of their parents.

The oldest waits a moment. “Does Axel work?”

Jamie shakes his head. “No, he says if he tries to get a job and put his name down that the people who were lookin’ for us will find us and we’ll be taken apart.”

Michael hums softly. “If he doesn’t earn money, how does he get food?”

The small five year old freezes. “He says he gets it by being bad and that I shouldn’t _ever_ do it.” 

Lucifer blinks. “So, he steals it?”

“Axy says its borrowing without the intent to return.”

Gabriel snorts in amusement, nodding along. “Well, that’s one way to look at it.”

They leave him for a few moments to set their bowls in the sink before returning, sitting around him, legs crossed before them, watching the small boy play with his toy cars.

Raphael hums softly. “Do you go to school, Jamie?”

“Yep! Axy says I’m in preschool! Axy says he’s my guardian and I have a different name when I’m there, he says we’re playing a game, like hide’n’seek! I like that game! Me and Axy play all the time, but he always finds me ‘cause he’s a cheater, and when he finds me he gives me tickles, and then I go hide again! He’s always the one who counts!”

Michael tilts his head. “But, if he’s only fifteen, how can he be your guardian?”

Jamie shrugs slightly. “He’s got a card that says he’s older, it’s got a different name on it too, we play that game when we have to go to my school.”

Raphael hums again, ever the scholar, they expect his next question. “What are you learning in school?”

Jamie brightens, it’s obvious he likes going to school, and looks up at him. “Well, we’re learning numbers and letters, I learned how to write the alphabet and my name, I learned all sorts of shapes, my favorite time is story time, I love that time, we do lots of art and have play time, I like playing with the playdough, that’s my _number one_ favorite! We do painting, I paint a lot of pictures for Axy, he keeps them in a book, he calls it my baby book, he says he wants to write down and save all my stuff and what I did and stuff, it’s really cool, I can show it to you!”

“You talk rather well for a five year old; most are only just learning to speak in full sentences.”

“Axy teaches me too, he said there’s nothin’ wrong with learning more stuff and bein’ smart, I know how to write lots of words, I still get some letters mixed up, like _‘b’_ and _‘d’,_ but Axy says that’s okay ‘cause I’m still learnin’!”

“Indeed.” Raphael nods lightly. “Does Axel go to school?”

Jamie shakes his head. “Nope! He says he doesn’t so he can take care of me but he has books here that he works with when I’m at school so he can learn stuff too. Don’t say that I told you anythin’ but he’s not very good at math, I don’t know what it means or how to read some of it, but Axy always bangs his head on the table and lays there and groans, so I know he’s not likin’ his math.” He smiles at them. “Where are you from?”

They exchange looks and Gabriel licks his lips. “From very, _very_ far away.”

“Cool!” Jamie sets his cars down to give them his complete attention. “What’s your home like?”

Michael hums softly. “Big, very big. Lot’s of…. _rooms_. We’ve got a big family, lots of brothers and sisters, we’re the oldest.”

“Why aren’ you at home with your family?”

Raphael rubs at his cheek lightly. “One of our…. _brothers_ did something very bad and we’re trying to…. _find_ him.”

“What did he do?”

They exchange looks again, and Michael leans forward. “Jamie, can you keep a secret?”

Jamie nods mutely. “Yep! I can keep secrets really good! I’ve been in school for almost a whole two years and haven’t told them my name, ‘cause it’s a secret.”

Michael looks between his brothers, they nod silently, and he turns back to the small child. “Jamie, we’re angels, our brother forced our other brothers and sisters out of Heaven, and we’re trying to find a way to get inside so we can….put him in _time out_ , and let the others back in.”

The boy stares at him for a long moment. “ _Really?”_

“Yes.”

He makes a particular expression. “Prove it.”

The four of them smile, reaching over their shoulders, and Jamie watches them pull a feather out of _nowhere_ , and he giggles when they lean forward to brush them over his cheeks and nose. He scoots closer. “But, I thought Michael was an _Arch_ angel, that’s what mommy used to say, and that Archangels are the most powerful angels.”

Michael smiles at him. “I _am_. We’re brothers, they’re Archangels too, and, we _are_ the most powerful angels.”

Jamie tilts his head. “Then, why can’t you just kick the door open?”

Gabriel makes a face. “We’re weak right now, we don’t have enough juice in our batteries to get inside, we’re not strong enough right now.”

“How do you make yourself stronger?”

“Umm…..” He looks to his brothers and they shake their heads. “It’s hard to….describe.”

“Okay!” Jamie looks over to the blonde man. “I didn’t know Lucifer was one.”

Lucifer hums softly. “I was, a long time ago, I’m like you, I have a pretend name too, no one really knows my real name either.”

The five year old tilts his head. “What’s your _real_ name, then?”

“My _real_ name is Lumiel. It means Lightbearer.”

“That’s so cool!” Jamie scoots closer just a bit more. “Can I tell Axy? We don’t keep secrets.”

Michael looks between his brothers again, and they shrug, doesn’t bother them, and turns his attention back to the little one between them. “You can tell Axel, but you have to keep it a secret from everyone else, we don’t want you guys to get hurt.”

“Can I tell Bananas too?”

Raphael tilts his head. “Who’s that?” Jamie pulls his stuffed monkey around and holds it up to show them, Raphael chuckles softly and nods. “Yes, you can tell Bananas.”

The little boy hugs his monkey close and looks down to his lap for a long moment, they hum in unison, and Michael reaches out to lift his head, a finger under his chin. “Something’s on your mind, little one, tell us, so we can help.”

Jamie licks his lips. “If you’re angels…..why didn’t you help mommy…..we asked for help……but no one helped mommy.”

Gabriel sighs sadly, rubbing at his head lightly, trying to figure out how to answer such a sensitive question in a way a young child of five years would understand. “Jamie, there’s a lot of humans, right?”

“Axy says there’s over seven _billion_!”

“Right, that’s a _whole_ lot of people, no matter how much we want to, no matter how hard we try, we can’t help _everyone_ , there’s just so _many_ people who ask for our help.”

The little boy falls silent for a minute. “Did you hear us?”

Raphael nods sadly, a flash of guilt crossing his features, and rests his hands in his lap. “We _did_ hear you, little one, we hear _every_ prayer, we came as soon as we could, but by the time we got here, it was already too late.”

Michael nods. “But, we did try to help, we made sure they didn’t find you so they couldn’t separate you and your brother.”

Jamie looks over to him. “You did?”

“Yes, we did.”

“Thank you!”

Gabriel smiles at him. “You’re welcome, little guy.”

The small boy giggles softly. “Can I keep the feathers?” He giggles harder and scrunches up when they lean forward and brush their feathers over his cheeks and neck again.

…

“Jam?” Is the first word that comes out of his mouth as soon as he walks through the door, two bags in hand, and the small boy yells in excitement, running out from behind the island to ram into his legs, hugging him tightly. “Hey, Jam, I got you a surprise for your birthday.”

“You did!” Jamie backs up, bouncing excitedly, tugging on his older brother’s shirt. “What is it! What! What! What!”

Axel laughs, stepping forward into the living room, kicking the door closed with his heel. “Let me put my bags down and I’ll show you.”

They watch silently as the boy turns, darting back for the kitchen, and pulls himself up to sit on the island. The older boy shakes his head, kicking his muddy boots off, and walks after him, hefting the full bags up on the counter next to his younger brother. “Okay, close your eyes.” Jamie giggles, covering his eyes with his hands, and Axel snorts, poking him in the belly. “No _peeking_ you _cheater_.” The younger boy giggles again and closes his fingers, the older boy reaches into the first bag, pulling out his surprise. “Okay, you can look.”

Jamie pulls his hands away, and they find it just a tad saddening, at just how much his face lights up at the sight of it. “A cake!”

“A double _chocolate_ cake. You’re most _favorite_.” Axel reaches in the bag again. “I got candles, too.”

Michael clears his throat. “You mean, you _stole_ candles.”

The teenager freezes, looking over at him, making a quick expression of surprise at the four disapproving stares he looks up to. “No, I don’t _steal_ anything, it’s _borrowing_ without the intent of _returning._ ”

Gabriel snorts. “Semantics, kid, that’s practically the _definition_ of stealing.”

Axel huffs, rolling his eyes as he turns, pulling the bags down with him. “I am _not_ about to be _scolded_ by strangers. It’s called survival of the fittest. Look it up.” He sets the bags down and begins unpacking them, passing a cookie up to his younger brother, Jamie cheers and takes the cookie happily.

The five year old munches on his cookie, kicking his legs lightly. “Axy, guess what!”

“What, Jam?”

“They’re _angels_.”

The older boy pauses, turning to look up at the young boy. “They’re _what_?”

“Angels!”

Gabriel snorts softly. “ _Arch_ angels, kiddo, get it right.”

Axel groans. “Oh, my god, I let four delusional men into our house. Jamie, did they do anything to you?”

Jamie shakes his head, looking down at his cookie. “Nope! We talked and I played and then they started ticklin’ me with feathers!”

The teenager shakes his head, turning back to unpacking the bags. “They’re _not_ angels, Jam.”

“Are too! They said so!”

“Are not, angel’s aren’t real, Jam, they’re tricking you.”

“Are not! I believe ‘em!”

Lucifer snorts softly. “Nice, a once religious nonbeliever.”

Gabriel laughs lightly. “I’ve seen weirder.”

“I’m _sure_ you have.”

Silence falls over the room, and it’s such a long moment, that Axel pauses. Jamie looks over to see if they’re still there, because they’re his friends now, and he doesn’t want to lose them. “Cool! Can I touch it!”

Raphael hums softly. “Sure, little one.”

Jamie carefully hops down from the counter and darts around, Axel’s eyes widen, _touch what?,_ and he jumps up. “Jam, don’t—” He spins around, and he falls short. “Holy _shit_!”

His baby brother is petting an emerald green _wing_ and looks over his shoulder. “You said a bad word, Axy!”

“Jamie, don’t _ever_ say that word!” He leans forward against the counter. “You guys have _wings_!”

Michael nods lightly, an eggshell white wing stretching behind him. “Of course, angels have wings.”

“Holy sh—” Jamie looks back at him. “ _Crap!_ ” He leans forward. “Can I touch it!”

The bearded man laughs softly, beckoning him over. “Sure.”

Groceries forgotten about, for the moment, he darts around the island, sliding to stand in front of the tall dark haired man, and a large wing stretches out to him. He stares as he reaches out, brushing his fingers over the smooth feathers, and he smiles. “This is so cool!”

Jamie giggles, leaving the wing he was petting to run at him, shoving him in the stomach, he huffs and stumbles to the side. “Told you!”

…

They sit together eating their supper that night, soup and sandwiches, Jamie going between his food and the picture he’s coloring.

Lucifer hums softly, leaning over slightly to fish in his back pocket, and tosses a wallet at the teenager. “Here, instead of _stealing_ it, _pay_ for it.”

Axel sets his bowl down and leans over to pick up the wallet. “I can’t—”

“You can, you should, and you will.” Raphael sets his sandwich down, rubbing at his mouth with a napkin. “Can’t very well be a little thief with four _Archangels_ staying with you.”

“I’m not little.”

“Kid,” Gabriel snorts softly. “Compared to us, you’re both just _babies_.”

Jamie looks up at him, completely and utterly affronted, pressing a little hand to his chest, they chuckle at his look of indignation. “I’m not a baby! I’m a big boy!”

The Messenger leans over, poking him in the belly, and the five year old giggles, leaning away from him, Raphael smiles at the small body leaning against his arm, and reaches around to poke him in the side. “ _Sure_ you are little guy.”

Jamie huffs and giggles, curling his arms around himself when the two of them continue to poke him, squirming from side to side between the two _meanies_. “Yea, well, compared to _them_ , you’re a _little_ guy too!”

The three elder Archangels laugh at the expression that adorns their youngest brother’s face and Lucifer leans over for a high five from the young child.

Gabriel presses a hand to his own chest, much as the small child had moments prior, and glares at them all. “ _Betrayed_ by my own blood.”

Axel snorts, setting the wallet down beside him, and picks his bowl back up. “At least he didn’t _lie_.”

“What is this! _‘Lets pick on Gabriel’_ day!”

Jamie giggles softly, leaning closer to the Healer when the Messenger reaches out for him, because of his insult. “I didn’t know that was a real day! It’s the day before my birthday, too! It’s my second favorite day, now!”

“You little—”

The small boy shrieks when he’s dived for, and crawls up into the older Archangel’s lap, Raphael adjusts himself, accordingly, wrapping his arms around the child and turning to glare playfully at his younger brother. “If you _value_ your _dignity_ , you’ll leave my little friend alone.”

Jamie sticks his tongue out at him, and Gabriel points a threatening finger at him in return. “He won’t be there to protect you all the time, short stack.”

“You don’t scare me, oopa loopa!”

Axel chokes on a mouthful of soup, swallows quickly, and laughs. “Oompa Loompa, Jam.”

The Morningstar laughs at that. “Puppy’s got a bit of a bark, nice one, little guy.”

“I hate you all. We aren’t friends anymore, Jamie.”

The young child giggles, ducking back into the African American Archangel’s chest. “Raphael is my _best_ friend, so that’s okay!” Raphael chuckles softly, squeezing the small boy lightly in a light hug. “You’re my best friend too, Jamie.”

Jamie looks down to the hands curled around his belly, and curls his fingers around those fingers, pulling on them slightly. “You guys can call me Jam, all my friends do, well, not all of them, only Axy calls me Jam, but he’s my _bestest_ friend, so it counts.”

Axel sets his bowl aside. “You’re my _bestest_ friend too, Jam.” He leans over, holding a fist out, and the five year old reaches out to bump his small fist to his brother’s. “Forever and always.”


	3. Officially A Real Five Year Old

Axel groans, swiping at the thing poking him on the cheek, a small muffled giggle follows, and he makes a face, he _knows_ who it is. He’s poked again and he turns, making as though to bite the finger, and there’s another giggle. He opens his arms, and something warm crawls up on top of him, and he heaves a deep breath, his eyes blinking open, bright green eyes stare back at him, his beloved baby brother smiles down at him. “It’s my birthday, Axy!” He whispers, not wanting to wake the others, they hear their soft snores, and they found it absolutely hilarious that _Archangels_ snored. “It’s my birthday!”

“It is?” He smiles at his baby brother. “How old are you today?”

Jamie holds up five fingers. “I’m five!”

“You’re a big boy, you’re going to live on your own now, right?”

The young child giggles softly. “No! I’m still little! I can’t live by myself!”

He smiles. “I guess I can stay for another year, because I love you so much.”

“I love you, Axy.”

“I love you too, Jam.”

The _official_ five year old giggles and covers his mouth with a small hand. “Axy, can we make breakfast?”

“What time is it?”

“Ten aclock.”

Axel rubs at his eyes and nods. “Sure, we can make breakfast, it’s a special breakfast this morning, because it’s a special day, you’re a hold hand in years now.”

“I know! I’m all the fingers!”

“Yes, you are!”

Jamie rubs his cheek lightly. “What are we makin’ for breakfast, Axy.”

“I got pancake mix, and guess what, guess what kind.”

“What! What kind!”

“I got the confetti kind, with the sprinkles, because I know those are your most favorites.”

The small boy squeals softly, and Axel laughs quietly, curling his hand around his little brothers mouth when he hears someone stir slightly. “Sshhh. They’re still _sleeping_.”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll be quite!” He mimes zipping his lips up and throwing away the key. “Mmmhhmmmpphhmmmm!”

The older boy snorts, pushing his little brother off of him so he could sit up, yawning slightly, he stretches, pushing the blankets away, and pushes himself to his feet. Jamie hops up, taking his hand, fingers curled tightly around his, and he swings their arms as they walk quietly to the kitchen. Jamie climbs up to sit on the island and he reaches above him for the cupboard, pulling out the mixing bowl, and passes it down to the five year old. “You’re gonna mix, right?”

“Yea! I’m the mixer!”

Axel smiles, reaching up again for the box of pancake mix, opens the drawer under him for the measuring cups, mixing spoon, and spatula. He pulls open the box of mix, cuts the packaging inside holding it up to the small boy, and picks up the measuring cup himself. “Okay, fill the cup.”

Jamie pokes his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he carefully fills the measuring cup with pancake mix. Axel nods when it’s full and dumps it in the mixing bowl, turns for the sink for a moment, and pours a cup of water in with the dry mix, then he holds out the spoon. “You stir it up nice and good.”

“No chunkies!”

“Right, no chunkies.”

The small boy takes the spoon, his face full of the determination only a small five year old could have when it comes to mixing pancake batter.

He leaves him there, reaching into the drawer under the oven for the frying pan, sets it on the burner, and turns on the heat. Spraying the cooking spray over the pan, he waits for it to warm up, testing it every couple of minutes to see if it was ready, and nods when it is, turning back for his baby brother. “Done and ready?”

“Ready!”

Axel takes the bowl from him and sets it on the counter next to the stove. “Want to pour the batter in the pan?”

“Yes!” Jamie carefully climbs down from the counter, bouncing over to him, and he smiles, bending slightly to curl an arm around his waist, lifting him up with him, and passes him the measuring cup, lifting the bowl of batter up for him. Jamie scoops up enough batter to fill the measuring cup and pours it in the large frying pan, watching as it slowly began to bubble. Axel sets the bowl back down. “Want to flip it?”

“Yea!” Jamie leans over, curling his little hand around the handle of the pan, and he curls his hand around his baby brother’s, steadying the pan, they lift it slightly, ready themselves, and toss the pancake up, watching it flip through the air closely, making sure not to miss it, and Jamie cheers softly when it lands, sizzling on the greased pan. “I love makin pancakes!”

“You do?”

“It’s my favorite!”

“I thought making French toast was your favorite.”

“That is too!”

He laughs softly, leaning over for his baby brother to grab the spatula, and holds the pan up for him to lift the pancake out, and leans over for him to set it on the plate on the other counter beside the stove.

They make a good pile of pancakes, because growing boys and all powerful depowered Archangels have to eat, and Axel turns the burner off, and sets his brother on the floor. “I’ll get everything else, you go wake up the others, be nice.”

Jamie presses a hand to his chest. “Axy, I’m _always_ nice!”

“Uhuh, sure, I’ve known you _all_ your life, I’m not buying it.”

Jamie giggles softly, turning around, and darts around the island, listening to his brother pull out everything else. He stands in front of his big sleeping friends, and crosses his arms, tapping his lips with a finger in contemplation of whom he should wake first.

He decides on waking his _best_ friend first, stepping back a few step, watching his sleeping best friend, laying on his back, one arm draped over his face, the other rest at his side, he giggles softly.

“Jam,” he looks over, his big brother is leaning against the edge of island, smiling down at him. “Get’em.”

The small child nods firmly, makes himself ready, takes a running start, and leaps, landing on his _best_ friend heavily, laughing when he grunts and yelps, tensing slightly, throwing his arms up in surprise.

Green eyes meet green eyes, and Jamie giggles brightly. “Mornin’ Raphy!”

Raphael chuckles deeply, curling his arms around the small boy, wiggling his fingers into his sides, making him shriek and squirm. “You couldn’t have woken me up _without_ jumping on me?”

Jamie squirms, laughing brightly, trying to get away from him, but he’s trapped against his chest. “Iihihihihit wahahahhaas fuhuhuhun!”

“ _Oh_ , I see, who am I to impede on you having your fun, my apologies.”

He continues his assault for a minute or so more before stopping, Jamie giggles breathlessly and flops down on his chest, taking a moment to collect himself, and then lifts himself back up. “Today’s my birthday!”

“It is?” The Archangel smiles at him softly. “How old are you now?”

The small child lifts his hand, holding up five fingers. “I’m five!”

Raphael raises an eyebrow. “But, I thought you were _already_ five.”

Axel snorts from above him. “He’s been saying he’s five since the first of the month, he’s _officially_ five now.”

“Ah, I see.” He curls a hand around the side of the child’s head. “Happy birthday, little one.”

Jamie smiles brightly. “Thanks, Raphy!”

“Raphy?”

The child giggles. “Raphael is such a mouth full.”

“Oh, I understand, I apologize.”

“It’s okay, nobody’s perfect.” And he jumps from the Healer onto the Viceroy, Michael grunts softly, but appears to be used to people jumping on him while he’s asleep, because he simply wraps his arms around his little friend. “But, thanks for apologizin’.”

“You little brat!”

Jamie shrieks softly when he’s reached for and curls away from him, Michael’s chest rumbles as he chuckles, and Jamie shrieks again when he’s tossed over, back to his insulted best friend, and the oldest Archangel rubs at his face as he wakes, elbowing his brother next to him, Lucifer snorts awake, looking around, smiling at the sight of his younger brother torturing their young little friend, and shakes Gabriel awake.

The small five years squeals softly under the torment of the warm fingers and reaches out desperately. “Ahahahaxxxxxyyhyhyhy hehehehehhelp mehehehehe!”

“You try and help him, and I’ll pull you down too.”

Axel laughs and raises his hands defensively. “He’s all yours.”

…

They gather around when Axel pulls the gifts he’d collected for his baby brother out of their hiding spot, Jamie squeals softly, wiggling in his seat, smiling brightly. The teenager smiles, setting them down in front of his baby brother, taking a seat at his side, leaning over to kiss him on the head. “Happy birthday, baby brother.” Jamie claps his hands lightly, shaking in anticipation, and looks up to his older brother. “Go ahead, Jam, they’re all for you.”

“Yay!” Jamie reaches for the first gift, right on the top, and tears into the cartoon covered wrapping paper, ripping it off quickly, Axel leans over to collect it before a mess could be made. “Another monkey! Thank youuu!” He hugs the new soft fuzzy plush to his chest and sets it in his lap, reaching for the next box. This one is bigger, it’s heavier, and his big brother leans over to help him move it. He tears into the wrapping paper just as eagerly, Axel collects it just as ready, and Jamie’s eyes widen at the laptop box that sits in his lap, spinning around to look at his older brother with wide eyes. “Axy, _how_!”

Axel smiles, choosing to ignore the disapproving looks he _knows_ are being sent his way, and pats his baby brother’s cheek. “I have me ways.” He, once again, _also_ decides to ignore Michael’s soft hum. “Now, you can watch all your favorite movies.”

“Thanks, Axyyy!” Jamie leans over to hug his brother. “You’re the best!”

The older boy hugs him back and takes the box when they part. “There’s more, there.”

His baby brother turns back to his pile of gifts and reaches for the next one, it’s a DVD, a batman DVD, his _favorite_ superhero. There’s another DVD, The Lion King, his favorite, and another, Finding Nemo, also his favorite. He gets some new clothes too, which he needed, so he’s happy, there’s a lot of shirts with batman on them. The five year old squeals softly, throwing himself at his older brother, hugging him tightly. “Thanks, Axy! I love it all! You’re my _favorite_ big brother!”

“I’m your _only_ big brother.”

“That makes you my favorite without any competition!”

The teenager smiles, hugging him back. “I was going to ask if you wanted to play in the woods, but the rain is supposed to turn to snow, and you don’t have a new coat yet, your size doesn’t come in until Monday, so I’ll go get it then,” he looks up at Michael. “And, _pay_ for it.” He looks back down when he sees him narrow his eyes. “But, we can watch a movie instead, I already set up your laptop, so it’s ready to go.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Can we watch Nemo!”

Axel laughs softly. “Sure, I’ll go make some popcorn, you get everything ready in here.”

Jamie nods excitedly, and both brother’s rise, to get through their tasks, while popcorn pops in the kitchen, the small five year old tugs the large Archangel’s into place. Michael and Lucifer on Axel’s side with Raphael and Gabriel on his side, and he settles in, ready for their movie, hugging his monkeys and his best friend’s hand to his chest. Axel returns a few minutes later with two large bowls of popcorn, sets on in his baby brother’s lap, and sets the other in his when he claims his own spot, leaning forward to turn the laptop on and stick the DVD in, settling back against his pillows and Michael’s arm as the movie begins to play.

The small five year old smiles. “Best. Birthday. _Ever_!”


	4. Once Upon A December

“Okay, you have your paper?”

Jamie nods quickly. “Yea!”

After they celebrated Jamie’s birthday and watched their movie, they left the Archangels back at the cabin, requesting only that they refrained from burning the place down, and went back to town to do some Christmas shopping, they knew it was last minute, but they had a way to get things without worrying about getting in trouble, and they wanted to take advantage of this freedom, there was no telling how long it would last, they knew that their new friends couldn’t stay with them forever, they had important things they had to do.

Axel nods, shaking the mouse of the Library computer to wake it out of sleep mode, and clicks on the search engine, pulling up the webpage. “Who are we doing first?”

The _official_ five year old taps his lips with his finger. “My best friend!”

“Raphy?”

He nods happily, kicking his feet as he leans forward against the computer desk. “Yea!”

The teenager nods, typing the Archangel’s name in the search bar, and scrolls through the options that pop up, clicking on one that seems promising. “Okay, lets see, oh, wow, check it out, I wonder how accurate this is.”

Jamie leans in closer. “That’s so cool! He looks like a _real_ angel! Like the ones in the windows when we went to church with mommy!”

Axel snorts. “Jam, he _is_ a real angel.”

“I know, I know! I was just sayin!” The small child taps his pen against the paper before him. “Wha’s it say, Axy?”

“Okay, so, he’s the Healer of Heaven—”

“Like a doctor?”

“Yea, exactly, he’s the doctor of Heaven. Umm, his associated animal is the monkey, and all birds, but especially the Ibis. His symbol is the eight pointed star and caduceus. His associated flowers and herbs are Lavender, Lilly of the Valley, Dill, Fennel, Mandrake, it’s a long list, Jam, I’m not reading this all. His associated fruit is the lemon. His associated planet is Mercury. His gems are Agate Opal, Yellow Tpaz, or Serpentine. His eyes and wings are like, emerald green too, so there’s that. Ummm, his tarot card is The Magus.” He turns to look at the small boy, tapping the pen against his lips, and smiles at the expression of deep thought only a child of five years could have.

“What’s a caduseeus?”

“A _caduceus_?

“Yea.”

“Umm, let’s find out.” He searches that specific item up. “Looks like a staff. I’ve seen him with a staff in some pictures before.” Axel looks over at his baby brother. “Did your little brain get all that information?”

“Yea! My _big_ brain got it all!” He drops his hand and pen down on the table. “I don’ know what to get him, Axy, there’s just so much.”

Axel hums, opening a new tab, directing himself to the website of the store they were going to, Walmart, they had pretty much everything you could think of. “You could make him a charm bracelet, look, they have most of the charms for almost all of his things.”

Jamie grins, nodding excitedly. “Yea, that’s a good idea!” He sloppily writes his gift idea down, and leans forward to see the things, Axel returns to the previous page, letting him copy down as best he could the information they found.

“Okay, who next?”

“Umm…Luci!”

The older boy frowns. “I doubt anything we find with that one will be good, what’s his real name, again?”

His baby brother leans forward, as one does when sharing a secret, Lucifer had said his name was a secret, like his was, and Axel leans over for him to whisper in his ear. “ _Lumiel_.”

“Right, right, okay,” he types in the name, hoping it’s spelled like how it sounds, and scrolls through the options until he finds a promising one, and clicks on it. “Okay, let’s see what this says, umm, he’s the Lightbringer, the Morningstar—”

“What’s that?”

“Umm, I don’t know, let me search it.” He types it in. “Okay, it’s most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise. It’s also a name for the star Sirius, which appears in the sky just before sunrise from early July to mid-September.”

“Okay,” Jamie writes it down on his paper, under his friends fake name, got to keep the secret. “What else?”

“Okay, umm,” he switches back to the other page. “His planet is Earth, that’s cool, I didn’t know that. Okay, what else, his gems are emerald and quartz. His symbol is the Tau Cross—”

“What’s that?”

Axel shrugs. “Let’s look it up.” And types it into the search bar of a new tab.

“Oh, that’s cool.” Jamie writes it down. “What else?”

He click back to their other tab. “Umm, there’s not much on him, he’s really unknown, his flowers are the red rose and the wild rose. His tarot cards are The Hermit, The World, and The Fool.” He scrolls up and down the page. “That’s it. You get all that?”

“Yep! Let’s do Gabe next!”

“Okie dokie,” the teenager types his name in and clicks search, scrolling through the options until he finds one that seems promising. “Let’s seeee…. He’s the Messenger—”

“So, he’s like an angel mail man?”

Axel laughs softly. “Yea, exactly.”

“Okay got it!”

He continues on. “His associated metal is Silver. His gems are Aquamarine, Clear Quartz, Crystal, Fluorite, Geodes, and Moonstone—”

“What’s a geeode?”

“A geode, umm, let’s search it.” He opens a new tab and types it in. “Oh, that’s cool, it’s like a bunch of gems that form inside a rock.”

Jamie leans in closer. “That’s really pretty.” And looks down to write it all down as best as a five year old can. “Okay, got it, what else is there?”

“Umm.” Axel switches back to their other page. “His tarot card is The High Priestess. His symbol is the nine pointed star. His flowers and herbs are all white flowers, passionflower, peonies, poppy, white rose, iris, morning glory, hazel, there’s a long list, I’m not reading them all. Let’s see…His associated animals are crabs, shellfish, dogs, seagulls, owls, and the white peacock. The planet is the moon.” He looks down, watching his baby brother write it all down, slowly, he’s still learning to write, after all. “Okay, that’s it, Micha next?”

“Yea, Micha!”

“Got it,” he types the name in and clicks search, pulling up the option that looks promising, and scrolls over the page. “Okay, Michael, he’s a warrior—”

“Like, a soldier?”

“Yea, like a soldier.” He continues on slowly, making sure Jamie has enough time to write, reading silently to himself. “Umm, his planet is the sun. His metal is gold and brass. His symbol is the hexagram—”

“What’s that?”

He opens a new page and searches up a picture. “This.”

“Ooooh okay, I got it, what else!”

Axel clicks back to their other page. “His tarot card is The Sun. His fruit is an orange and pomegranate.” He scrolls down some. “His animals are the lion, wolf, griffin, and sparrowhawk—”

“What’s that?”

“A griffin or sparrowhawk?”

“A griffin.”

“It’s a hybrid of an eagle and a lion.”

“Oh, that’s cool!” Jamie’s tongue pokes out of the corner of his mouth as he writes everything down on his paper. “What else you got?”

He looks back to the screen. “Umm, his flowers and herbs are the sunflower, buttercup, marigold, oak, rowan, acacia, it’s another long list, I’m not reading it all. His gems are amber, carnelian, citrine, crystal quartz, diamonds, ruby, and topaz. That’s it, got everything?”

“Yea, I got everything!” Jamie sets his pen down and lifts his paper, his eyes skimming over the page, and nods in firm assurance. “Got it!”

Axel smiles, nodding lightly, clearing their browsing data, as them being with them was a secret, and closes the webpages. “You ready to go to the store?”

Jamie folds his paper up and tucks in in the pocket of his jeans. “Ready!”

…

Axel grabs himself a cart and passes his baby brother a basket along with a cannister of mace, Jamie takes both, tucking the cannister of mace into his other pocket. “Only use that if your in danger, if you get scared or want me to come, find a store employee and tell them you’re lost.” He rubs his curls lightly. “What’s your name?”

Jamie, smiles up at him. “Ryder Williams!”

“Good boy, what’s my name?”

“Sampson Williams!”

“Good, we’ll go our separate ways, we’ll meet in front of the restrooms in sixty minutes.”

The five year old tilts his head slightly. “How will I know it’s been that long.”

He takes off his watch, squatting slightly, clasping it around his baby brother’s wrist, and points to the slow nearly stationary hand. “You see this hand?”

“Yea!”

“Okay, sixty minutes from now, it would be here, understand?”

“Got it!”

Axel ruffles his brothers curls and straightens. “I’ll keep track of time in my head. Remember, when that hand is _there_ you have to be near the restrooms.”

Jamie nods firmly. “Got it!”

“Good, let’s go get our stuff.”

They go their separate ways.

…

Jamie runs around people to the arts and crafts section, where the charms and bracelets are, and bites his lip as he looks the all over, pulling his paper out of his pocket, unfolds it, and looks for the charms for the things he’d written down, whining softly, stomping his foot, as any frustrated five year old does, when he doesn’t know what half of them look like.

“Sweetie?” He looks up at the voice, an older woman squats slightly, pressing a hand to his back, wearing a blue and yellow vest with the word _‘Walmart’_ printed on it. “Can I help you find anything?”

Jamie smiles, nodding happily, and passes her his paper. “Oh, goodness, you’ve got quite a lot written down here, are you making a gift this year?”

He nods brightly. “Charm bracelets for…..my big brothers!”

“I’m sure they’re going to love it; how many are you making?”

“Four!”

“Alrighty, let’s see what we can find here, here’s the bracelets.” She reaches up and pulls four clasp bracelets from the shelf and places them in his basket. “Now, let’s look through these charms, we’ve got quite a few them, I’m sure we can find most of these.”

…

Axel makes his way to the home section first, they need new pillows rather badly, and throws eight of them in their cart, then he turns down the next aisle for blankets, they had enough, but their new…..family…brothers….needed their own blankets too. Once he’s got everything he needs there, he makes his way to the toy section, walking slowly up and down the aisle, looking through all the toys, now that he doesn’t have to worry about getting in trouble trying to get his brother gifts, he wants to make this Christmas special.

They didn’t celebrate Christmas in the last two years, for obvious reasons, mom and dad had….died three years ago, before this Christmas, a week before Jamie’s birthday. They didn’t miss dad, he was an abusive drunk, but they did miss mom.

They’d laid in their blanket bed and slept basically all day.

Depression, a fickle evil thing.

Jamie had been working on a project in the coat closet, why the coat closet, you may ask, well, because they shared the bathroom and neither of them _ever_ step foot in the backroom, too many painful memories. He wanted to know what it was, he knew it was for him, because Jamie refused to let him see it and would hide it, rather well, he had no idea where he stashed it, when he came out.

He pulls the list he’d made out of his coat pocket, Jamie had brought a toy magazine home from school a few weeks ago, and though he knew it was unlikely he’d get them, he’d circled things that he’d wanted, he’d found the magazine and written them down.

Lucifer had said there was no limit to how much they could spend, that his bank account was endless, he’d muttered something about the Vatican and Michael had snorted and elbowed him in the side, he’d been curious, but not enough to ask. He’d said to get anything and everything they wanted.

Reading over his list, he pulls toys from various shelves and puts them in his cart, a bunch of toys, Jamie deserved it all, he was the best baby brother a guy could ask for, he deserved the world, and if he could give him the world, he would, without hesitation.

But, that _physically_ wasn’t _possible_ , so he’d stick to getting him all of the toys he wanted.

Once his cart is half way full of toys, crossing _every_ toy off his list, he turns his cart around and makes his way to the candy aisle, he wanted to make Jamie a stocking full of all his favorite treats; Reese Cups, Hersey Kisses, KitKats, Candy Canes, the _gross and disgusting_ black licorice, and gummy bears, the sour kind.

Then, he turns his cart towards the Christmas Themed aisle, picking out five things of wrapping paper, a bunch of tape, some name stickers, and jewelry boxes for his baby brother’s gifts.

His next stop is the furniture aisle, Jamie needed a proper toy box, not just an old basket they’d found in the storage closet.

Then, he makes his way to the food section, they were having cheeseburgers for dinner and needed hamburger buns.

He makes to check his watch, but remembers he gave it to Jamie, and goes in search of a working clock.

Twenty minutes left.

Axel makes a quick stop to the clothing aisle, finds Jamie a new winter coat, some new pants, new socks, and new winter boots. He gets him some necessities too, underwear, batman covered underwear, batman was his favorite.

His reasoning was because batman was an orphan too and was still big and brave and strong. It was sad. It had broken his heart. But he’d only nodded and agreed.

His last stop is the electronics section, on the back of his paper is a list of movies his brother had wanted, they had them on VHS and had the VHS player, but dad had broken the TV a month before they….died….And they had never had enough money to get a new one, and though he’d been willing to _‘borrow’_ most things, he wasn’t stupid enough to try and _‘borrow’_ a new TV, he was _lucky_ he got away with the laptop, _that_ had been a _close_ call.

Axel pulls the DVD versions of all their VHS tapes from the shelves and places them in his cart, picks out a few computer games for his brother, ensuring their were _child safe_ , he was mature for a five year old, but he was still a _five year old_ , and he was not a bad _pretend_ guardian.

Nodding to himself, he’s got everything he needs, he turns in the direction of their meeting place.

Jamie is waiting there for him, sucking on a candy cane, kicking his legs lightly from over the edge of the bench he sits on. His eyes light up when he spots him, grabs his basket, and hops down, running over to him and his cart, peeking inside. “Are those for me!”

The teenager laughs. “No, they’re not for _you,_ they’re for another little boy I know.”

“It’s for me! You can’t trick me, Sampy!”

Sampy, he was Sampson in the store, as Jamie was Ryder, thus, he was called Sampy.

“You _better_ act surprised.” His baby brother sets his basket down, squishes his hands over his cheeks, in an exaggerated expression of surprise, and he laughs. “Yea, like that.”

Jamie giggles bending over for his basket again, and he leans over to peer inside. “Did you get everything you needed?”

“Yep, I got three new coloring books, some markers, and a big thing of crayons, cause my old coloring books, marker, and crayons are all used up and bad.”

“I see, want me to wrap them and put them under the tree?”

The five year old tilts his head as he thinks it over, and nods, he likes unwrapping gifts, and lifts them out of his basket, reaching up to drop them in the cart. “Yea! I like unwrappin’ stuff!”

Axel laughs softly, nodding in the direction of the check out. “Let’s go check out and head on home.”

“Okay!”

They take their place in line, which moves slowly, Axel is fine, leaning against the handle of the cart, but keeps his eye on his baby brother, it was more likely that Jamie would get bored just standing there, but he seems content, licking and sucking on his candy cane.

Jamie lifts his basket up on the conveyor belt when it’s their turn, the cashier smiles down at him, and he smiles around his candy cane, waving up at them happily. They ring up the young boy’s things first, and Jamie happily takes his bags, wrapping the handles around his wrist, and Axel begins unloading his overfilled cart.

He feels bad, they spent a _lot_ of money, but Lucifer had said he didn’t care how much they spent.

Piling his bags and things back in his cart, he slips the card into the machine, enters the code he’d been told, and waits for the cashier to hand him his receipt.

She smiles at him as he tucks the debit card in his coat pocket and holds out their long receipt. “Merry Christmas, have a great day.”

He smiles in return. “You too.”

Jamie grabs onto the side of the cart when they exit the store, the sun has nearly set, and they carefully make their way to their old truck with their cargo. Axel unlocks the doors, telling Jamie to climb in, he wasn’t wearing his new coat, it was buried somewhere in the bottom of the cart, so he shrugs his off, ignoring the cold around him, and passes it up to his baby brother so he can bundle up with it.

It takes him a couple of minutes to load their things, well, his things, Jamie had kept his bags with him, into the bed of the truck, but he manages, even with the heavier things, and covers them with the tarp to keep them from being ruined by the falling snow.

Climbing into the drivers seat, he rubs his hands together, blowing on them for a moment, and sticks the key in the ignition, twists it, the truck revs into life, making a few out of the ordinary noises, but they’re noises they’re used to, so it’s not worrying to them, it’s been making those noises since before mom and dad…died.

Jamie turns to him as he gears into reverse and begins backing out. “Axy, can I turn on the radio?”

“Want to play Christmas music?”

“Yes!”

He smiles. “Go for it.”

The five year old squeals softly in happiness and leans forward, turning the nob for the radio, and Christmas music fills the cab. Jamie sings along quietly kicking his legs lightly as he looks out the window as they pull out of the store parking lot.

Their cabin is about an hour and a half from the store, they’re _really_ far out there and it’s _really_ remote, but they’re fine, they make this drive every day, twice a day, when Jamie has to go to school.

Axel turns on the windshield wipers, leaning forward to see through the heavy snow fall, taking their dirt road slower then they usually do. “Jam, you’re wearing your seat belt, right?”

“Yep.”

“Good boy.”

He was just being sure, the road was snowy and slick, and they still had to get new tires. Michael had said just to pray to them if they were in trouble, that they were weak right now, but not so weak as to not help them if they needed it, but he didn’t want to, relying on somebody was a bad idea, you can’t rely on anyone, it’s just him and Jamie.

And, them.

 _I guess they’re family too. They’ve been with us for a few days. They treat us like we’re family._ He thinks to himself.

Jamie sighs, turning to look at him. “Axy, are we there yet?”

He points a finger at him. “Now, Jam, _don’t_ you _start_ that.”

The five year old giggles softly and returns to looking out the window. They make the rest of the ride in silence, listening to the Christmas music, and it’s not long before their cabin comes into view, he slides in carefully, gearing the truck into break, and cuts the engine, turning to his baby brother. “Help me carry stuff in?”

“Yea!”

Smiling, they push their doors open, dropping down into the snow gathering over the ground. They both slam their doors and cross around to the back of the truck, he pulls the door to the bed open, and tugs the tarp closer for their things. Jamie looks over when the door to their cabin opens, waving at them, and Michael and Lucifer coming walking around the sides of the truck. “Need help?”

Axel smiles up at them. “Yea.”

With the help the two oldest Archangel’s provide, they manage to turn what would have been multiple trips into one arm laden trip, setting their cargo down in the middle of the floor. Raphael and Gabriel watch curiously as Jamie tugs off his brother’s coat and runs to the coat closet, dropping his bags inside, and closes the door, _without_ returning the coat to the designated closet. The small boy kicks off his old boots and picks up his older brothers thick coat, running over to hang it in front of the warm fire to dry, before turning and running into the older boy’s legs. “Axy, can we decorate, now! I wanna make it look pretty!”

Axel smiles, it’s a sad smile, they can see as much, and watch as the boy nods mutely. “Yea, Jam, we can decorate now.” He looks over to them and waves them forward. “Come on, Christmas was mom’s favorite holiday, we’ve got a few boxes.”

The Archangels nod, rising to their feet to follow after them as they make their way down the hall, and they come to a stop, just outside the closed door to the backroom. Axel stares at the door, Jamie looks down, his constant exuberance seeming to have drained from him, and he reaches up to slip his little hand into his older brother’s. Axel looks down at young child and Jamie looks up at the teenager.

They haven’t been in this room, _the_ room, for a little over three years.

But Jamie wanted to decorate this year, and if Jamie wanted it, he’d make sure he got it.

The Archangels watch them with sorrowful concern, watching them stare at each other, as Axel inhales deeply and reaches for the door handle, turns it slowly, and pushes the door open. Both boys turn to stare at the bed, as though seeing something they can’t, and stare for a good few minutes, before Jamie whines softly and tugs on his brother’s hand. Axel is torn from his reverie and nods, stepping forward, Jamie at his side, their new friends….. _family_ ……behind them, they don’t say anything, for which he appreciates, he’s thankful, it’s a sore subject, more so for him then Jamie, his baby brother had only heard it, but _he’d_ seen it. He’d _been_ there. He’d…He’d done _it_. He’d never told Jamie, he never world, he doesn’t want him to know.

They ignore the bed as they turn to the large closet, and stare at that for a moment, Axel heaves a sigh and slides the door open, on the shelf above are their boxes of Christmas decorations, but in front of them are _her_ clothes, they hadn’t been in here since that _day_ , everything was just the way it was when _it_ happened. They reach out to touch them, running a hand over them, watching them move under their touch. Jamie takes a deep breath, tugging at his brothers hand, and points up at the boxes when he turns to look down at him. Axel holds his breath for a moment before letting it out, to steady himself, and nods, letting go of his brothers hand to reach up for the boxes. He passes them over his shoulder to the men behind him, they stay, as he reaches for the last box, bigger then the first ones, the tree, and pulls it down.

Jamie tugs on the leg of his jeans. “Axy, I miss mommy.”

Axel nods slightly, looking back to the clothes hanging in front of them. “I do too, Jam.” He puts on a smile though; he doesn’t want his baby brother to be upset. “Come on, let’s go decorate, and then we can make cookies.”

The five year old lights up at the thought of cookies and he smiles. “Okay!”

The teenager smiles down at him, at the return of his exuberant excitement, and turns to the clothes one last time. He looks over when a large warm hand curls over his shoulder, and follows it up, Michael smiles at him, and he returns it in kind, turning back to close the closet so they can leave this _dreaded_ room.

They set their boxes down in front of their old couch, and open them, riffling through them. Axel puts up their tree as Jamie looks through the ornaments silently. “Oh, I remember this one.” He lifts the round white one out of his baby brother’s hands, rubbing his finger over the indentation. “Mom did this one on your first birthday.” He holds the ornament out. “Look at how _small_ your feet were.”

Jamie giggles lightly. “I had baby feet, then.”

“You _still_ have baby feet, Jam.”

The five year old giggles, showing the ornament to the Archangels seated on the couch, and they each take it carefully, rubbing a finger over the tiny footprint in the plaster. He cheers softly, pulling a disk out of the box, turning to look up at his older brother. “Axy, it’s mommy’s song!” He looks down at the disk for a moment before returning his gaze upwards. “Can we play mommy’s song?”

Axel sniffs softly, as though he’s holding back a few tears, and nods, taking the disk from his brother’s little fingers. Walking across the room to the CD player in the corner on the island, he opens the top, sticks the disk in, closes the top, and pushes play.

There’s a crackling, it’s a homemade song, the four of them come to realize, the soft sounds of a piano start to emanate from the speakers, a soft voice, light, but deep at the same time, perfectly pitched, sings softly, filling the room as Jamie returns to the box of ornaments, slowly pulling them out and running over to hand them on the tree.

_Dancing bears,_

_Painted wings_

_Things I almost remember,_

_And a song someone sings,_

_Once upon a December_

Axel lifts Jamie up so he can decorate the mantel of the fire place and hang the stockings as the Archangels slowly string the lights over the beams above them.

_Someone holds me safe and warm,_

_Horses prance through a silver storm,_

_Figures dancing gracefully across my memory._

Jamie sets the white cloth, fake snow, on the island, slowly setting up the nativity scene, showing their Archangel friends their mom’s angel collection as he sets them up to rest, arranged to his desire on the island.

_Someone holds me safe and warm,_

_Horses prance through a silver storm,_

_Figures dancing gracefully across my memory._

Axel watches from the kitchen, standing in front of their sizzling hamburgers, Michael and Gabriel helping him cut up the add on ingredients for the burgers, as Raphael slowly spins himself and Jamie in a circle, his arms curled under his bottom, holding him up against his chest, Jamie pressing their foreheads together, his arms curled around the Healers neck, humming softly along with the melody. Lucifer’s making large ice snowflakes, he’s assured him they won’t melt, and is hanging them with the lights above their heads.

_Far away,_

_Long ago,_

_Glowing dim as an ember,_

_Things my heart used to know,_

_Things it yearns to remember_

_And a song someone sings_

_Once upon a December._

They eat in silence, looking at their masterpiece, and Jamie smiles, leaning into his brother’s side. “It’s like mommy’s here, Axy, she’d love it.”

Axel looks down at his lap for a moment. “Yea, Jam, she would.”

…

Jamie retreated to his closet after the washed up their supper dishes, and made their cookies, to work on his _‘special surprise projects’_ , and Axel took that as his time to wrap up his gifts, the other helped him set up the toy box before they settled down to wrap up everything and place it under the tree.

“Axel,” Raphael’s voice calls out softly. “You got him quite a bit.”

He nods lightly, leaning forward to set his completed piece under the tree, and reaches for the next. “I..wanted this year to be special…..It’s the first Christmas we’ve celebrated in over two years, yesterday……yesterday was the first birthday Jamie celebrated in over two years……We usually just sleep in bed for the week.” Axel pauses, looking over his shoulder, to meet the Archangel’s green eyes. “Jamie deserves _everything_ in the world.”

Gabriel hums softly, sitting across from him, leaning forward to tuck his wrapped gift under the tree. “Why haven’t you guys celebrated in over two years, Christmas is the season of new beginnings, hope, and family.”

“We don’t _have_ a family.” Axel’s tone is a tad sharper. “ _They’re_ dead.”

“Axel,” Michael calls from behind him. “What happened to them?”

His fingers falter in wrapping the DVD before him. “Dad….Dad shot mom.” He doesn’t like talking about it, but, he’s heard it’s better to get it out then to hold it in, so what the hell, no one better to tell then four _Archangels_ was there. “Dad….Dad was a drunk bastard. He was always beating up on mom. The backroom….The backroom is cursed, it’s haunted, we don’t like going back there. He’d take her in there, and we’d sit out here, I’d hold Jamie in my lap and cover his ears, as mom screamed and begged him to stop.” The four of them pause and look up at the older boy. “Mom had enough one day, I don’t know, she just cracked, her and dad got into a fight, and she said she was leaving and taking us with her, and dad got mad.” He leans forward to put the wrapped DVD under the tree and reaches for the toy next to him, a rocket ship, Jamie _loved_ rocket ships. “He said we weren’t leaving him, that we were _his_ , that he’d kill us _all_ before he let us go, and he dragged her back to the back room, yelling about how he’d kill her and then kill her two beloved boys, and….” They exchange looks behind him. “And, I heard him slam the closet door open, he kept his gun in a case on the floor, behind the shoes, and I heard mom scream and tell him to put it down, and they started yelling at each other again.” Axel sets the last wrapped gift under the tree, and turns, to look at them. “Dad kept his second gun in the storage closet and….and I climbed up the shelves to get it, it was on the highest shelf, and my hands were shaking…I remember my hands shaking really bad as I loaded bullets into the clip, and I ran down the hall, to the backroom, and started yelling at dad to put his gun down and to leave mom alone, and he just….he just _shot_ her. Shot her in the head. She was dead instantly. And then he turned to me and cocked the gun again, sayin how he was gonna take me and Jamie out like he did our _precious_ mommy, and I told him I’d shoot him before I let him hurt Jamie, and he laughed saying I didn’t have the balls and we pulled the trigger at the same time, he shot me in the shoulder, I shot him in the hand and he dropped his gun, and as he bent over to curl around his hand, I shot him in the head like he did to mom.” He takes a deep shaky breath. “I dropped the gun, got Jamie, and we ran to hide in the woods. They came back repeatedly, Child Services, looking for us, but gave up after a week.”

They sit in silence for a moment before Axel takes another deep breath. “Jamie doesn’t know, and I’d appreciate you not telling him.”

…

Jamie _insisted_ that his gifts be the first gifts that they passed around when they all woke up on Christmas morning. The small five year old was so excited. Axel sat at their feet, they sat on the couch, leaning back against Michael and Gabriel’s legs, and nodded to his baby brother’s exuberant request.

He squeals in excitement, squatting to pick up a skinny green box, bouncing across the room, leaning against Raphael’s legs, holding the box up to him. “This one is for you! It’s from me and Axy!”

The Archangel looks surprised, his eyes slightly widened at the sight of the box being held up to him, and Jamie nodded happily when he looked over it to peer down at him. Gingerly, he takes the box from him, lifting the top off, and stares down at the jewelry inside. The five year old bounces against his legs lightly, his small hands pressing just above his knees. “It’s a charm bracelet! We got almost all your stuff!”

Raphael blinks. “My stuff?” He gently lifts the bracelet from the box, laying it in his hand, to see all the little charms hanging off of it, Gabriel leans in close to see too. “The Magus tarot, a monkey, an Ibis, Lavender, Lilly of the Valley, opal, serpentine, and Mercury.” He smiles, looking up at the five year old. “You two did some research.”

Jamie smiles up at him. “We wanted it to be something special!”

“It’s most certainly special, little one, thank you, I love it.” He holds his hand out. “Help me put it on?”

The small child nods, picking up the bracelet gently, unclasping the two sides, and curls it around his wrist, clasping it in place. Jamie stand on his toes when he leans over for a hug, giggling when he feels a warm kiss press to his cheek, squeezed in tight for a moment. “Thank you, little one.”

“You’re welcome!”

The five year old retrieves a bright blue box, and rams into Lucifer’s legs, holding it to him, and he stares down at it with wide eyes, as though he doesn’t receive many gifts, or expect to. “This is for you!”

“For… _me_?”

“Yea!”

The Morningstar takes the box carefully, pulling the top off, another charm bracelet lays within, and he stares at it as he pulls it out of the box, the things he sees, he does not _expect_ to see, not many people _know_ about that stuff. It’s not a charm bracelet for _Lucifer_ , not the villainized persona, it’s a charm bracelet for _Lumiel_ , the pure persona, a persona he hadn’t been seen as for….for a _very_ long time. “Little one, I don’t know what to say…” He holds up the individual charms with his finger to see them closer. “The World Tarot, Venus, Earth, emerald, quartz, the tau cross, and a red rose.” He’s a big, bad fearsome fallen Archangel and he does _not_ feel tears coming to his eyes. “ _Thank you.”_

Jamie presses a small hand over his. “We wanted something for _you_ , Lucifer is a _pretend_ name, that’s not _who_ you are. You’re _Lumiel_. It was hard to find, but we found _some_ stuff.”

Okay, perhaps he does take a shaky breath, perhaps his eyes do burn a little bit, his brothers may be watching them, and perhaps Michael rubs his back gently in his speechlessness. “Little one, you have _no_ idea _how_ much this means to me, I haven’t…I haven’t been considered _Lumiel_ in a _very_ long time.”

The little one tugs on his fingers, picking up the charm bracelet, and carefully clasps it around his wrist. “You’ll _always_ be Lumiel, Luci, _always_ , Axy says _that’s_ who you really are and _everyone else_ can suck it!”

Axel laughs when Michael smacks him over the back of the head for saying such a thing to his five year old brother.

Lucifer….Lumiel…..It’s confusing now, he smiles at him, curling his hand around his cheek lightly. “You can call me Lumi, little one, if you want to.”

Jamie beams up at him, jumping up to wrap his arms around his neck in a tight hug. “Okay, Lumi!”

The small boy retrieved a golden colored box, and bounces over to the Messenger, leaning against his knees, holding the box up to him. “This one is for you.” Gabriel stares down at it, he’s used to giving parcels, but he’s not used to receiving them. “Take it, silly!”

Smiling, the youngest Archangel takes the boy from the five year old, gently lifting the top to reveal another charm bracelet. He lifts it gingerly and sets the bow down in his lap, cradling the bracelet in his palm, he looks over the charms one at a time. “The High Priestess Tarot, the Moon, passionflower, an owl, iris, a geode, aquamarine, a dog, and fluorite.” He whistles softly. “You guys really did some research.”

Jamie bounces lightly. “You like it?”

“I love it, little guy!” He holds it out to the boy. “Help me put it on?”

The last box he picks up is red, and he climbs into his older brothers lap, leaning against Michael’s knees. “This one is yours!”

“For me, little one?”

“For you!”

The oldest Archangel smiles, following his brothers examples, and takes the box from the boy gingerly, pulling the top off, it’s another charm bracelet, and he lifts it up gingerly, looking through the charms hanging on the links. “This is impressive, little one. The Sun Tarot, the hexagram, an orange, a lion, a griffin, topaz, a sunflower, and the sun.” He leans forward, pressing a kiss to the boy’s forehead. “I love it, little one, thank you.” He holds it out to him. “Help me put it on?”

Jamie nods, clasping it around his wrist, and stands on his toes to press a kiss to his cheek in return. Gabriel coos and Raphael elbows him in the side.

He returns to the tree for his last gift, and slides in next to him big brother, passing it over to him. “This is for you, Axy.”

Axel raises an eyebrow, pulling the large square gift into his lap, unwrapping it carefully, it’s a scrapbook.

Jamie leans against his brother’s arm, he feels the other behind them lean over, as the teenager opens the cover, and tears come to his eyes when the first thing that greets him is his mom’s smiling face. It flips the pages, there’s baby pictures of them with mom, their first Halloween, their first Christmas, there’s a few of ten year old him holding baby Jamie, and he reaches up to swipe a tear away, squeezing his baby brother into his side. “Thanks, Jam, I really love it.”


	5. The Healing Will Begin

The week went by rather quick after that, they fell into a routine after New Year’s, Axel took Jamie to preschool and Raphael helped him with his own learning when he got back, there was no one better to teach you then an Archangel, so it was a pretty even trade over actually going back to school.

 _And_ , he made the math make _sense_ , which was a _positive_ in his book.

…

The crash seemed to take forever; as adrenaline coursed through their systems. They could see there was no hope. Axel was screaming, knowing there was no way to avoid it or turn out of it, he did the first thing that came to mind, and flung himself over his baby brother. The other car was coming head on, there was no time to stop now, the only outcome was a gruesome one. A screeching filled the air, as the driver of the other car realized there were coming down the wrong side of the road, too late to turn out of it, it hurts Jamie’s ears and he screams in equal parts fright and pain. Axel was trying to comfort him, telling him that things were going to be okay, when they both knew it wasn’t.

Then, it hit, a crushing and shrieking of metal, the truck spun and they both screamed. Axel’s head was thrown forward by the impact, Jamie’s too, and snapped back painfully when they hit the guard rail. Darkness overtook the older boy a moment later, the last thing he saw before his eyes closed was his baby brother flying away from him and the feeling of cold snow dropping onto his face, then sweet unconsciousness won over.

When he came too again, there was the sound of sirens in the distance, and the pounding agony of his blood circulating through his veins. He wished that the darkness would take over again, to save him from having the taste of coppery blood pooling in his mouth. Axel sucks in a breath of the cramped air, it was rank with gasoline, feeling his lungs caving in on themselves, that’s how painful it was to breathe. He saw the dots in the corners of his vision, making his head feel like the only thing inside was the painful static.

“J….Ja…Jamie?” Axel’s voice broke from fear and pain, so much worse then before, and he yanked the seatbelt free with ease, oh, the pros of adrenaline, he knows he shouldn’t be moving, but Jamie wasn’t in the cab anymore, he had to find him, he had to help him. There was no way he was getting that door to open, even with the adrenaline powered superhuman strength, so he clumsily reaches forward, hissing as the sharp splintered edges of the windshield dug into his palms and fingers, little shards of the windshield sticking and staying there, stabbing him like a hundred little needles, and he pulled himself through the shattered window. Glass broken into his curls, blood was trickling down the sides of his face, but he continued to pull himself up until he rolled off the demolished front of their truck.

His vision swam again, dangerously, and he swayed in his attempt to stand, falling down onto his stomach with a pain filled scream. Axel blinks a few times, trying to clear his own vision, and crawled towards the sprawled figure only a few feet away, his bloody hands leaving an amber trail on the cold snow under them.

“J….Ja…Jam…Jamie?” It was him, undoubtedly, his curls slick red with blood, his face one giant bruise, and his eyes glazing over more and more by the moment. He was watching the last member of his family die, his beloved baby brother, his entire world, the only thing that made him wake up in the morning, and he wailed pitifully. “Jam….ple…please!”

Jamie sucks in a shaky breath, red trickled from the corner of his mouth, and the older boy reaches a shaky hand to wipe it away. “A…A…….Ax….Axy…..Lo……Love….yo….u…” His hands shake when his brother’s sentence drifts off, reaching for him, to shake him awake, to do _something,_ and his sob turned into a scream when he didn’t so much as flinch at his touch. His eyes were staring blankly ahead, and he choked down another sob. No, no this could not be happening, not Jamie, not Jam, Jam was his everything, he was his entire world. “J…Jam….Jam….Jam!” The darkness is slowly creeping back on him, and he stifles a sob, as he lowers himself to the cold amber snowy ground, weakly pulling his baby brother closer, holding him as tightly as he can manage. “M…Mi….Michael…..H….He…Help!”

Consciousness slowly starts to trickle away when he hears the squeal of tires, the sirens are _right_ there, boots are stomping and crunching over the frozen snowy street, someone’s talking to him, and he feels his brother being lifted from his arms, he makes a _sound_ , his vision fading just as Jamie disappears from sight.

…

Beeping.

That’s what he hears when he comes to.

Beeping.

There’s voices, they’re muffled, and he can barely make out what they’re saying.

_‘He’s waking up!’_

He knows that voice, he knows it, and he forces himself into waking up, blinking into awareness, looking around at the blurry figures hovering over the sides of his bed. He’s in the hospital. _He’s in the hospital_. They know, they’re going to know who they really are, they’re going to take Jamie from him, he’s going to lose his baby brother!

_‘Ax, calm down, everything’s going to be okay! Everything’s okay!’_

_‘He’s having a panic attack!’_

_‘Yea, no shit, Raph, we can see that!’_

Something warm curls around his forehead, a tingly sensation washes over him, and then there’s just a sense of _calm._

_‘There, that should calm him down.’_

_‘Give him a moment, brothers, let him catch his bearings.’_

_‘Raph, I can’t believe you did that, though, the look on that lady’s face, she was stunned!’_

What happened? What did Raph do? What are they talking about? Where is Jam? Is Jam okay?

_‘They would have separated them, and after everything they’ve been through, they can’t be pulled apart. They need each other.’_

_‘But, still, brother, are you sure, that’s claiming guardianship over them, according to the humans, that would make them your children.’_

What?

_‘I’m sure.’_

_‘Well, then, congrats, you’re the proud papa of some roughed up baby boys.’_

_‘Shut up, Gabe.’_

“J……Ja……..Jam?” That’s him, god, he sounds like shit, everything’s slowly coming into focus, the four faces above him start to take on some clarity, and the four Archangels smile down at him. He stares at them. “J…J…Jamie?”

Michael and Raphael exchange quick glances before returning their gaze back down to him. “Ax…..Jam’s injuries were…..A bit more severe than yours were.”

He looks between them all and his voice cracks. “D…Dead?”

“No, no,” Gabriel curls his hand around his bandaged one. “He’s not dead. He’s…”

Lucifer curls his hand around his left ankle. “He’s in a coma, Ax. I’m not going to lie to you, he’s in _really_ bad shape, they have him on life support.”

Michael and Raphael exchange glances again.

He licks his lips. “H…Help…Help….hi…him…..ple…please…”

Michael looks back down at him. “We’re too weak to do much of anything right now, but……but there is a way we can help him…..there is a way we can get our strength back and help him…..”

“D..Do….it…”

Raphael sighs, looking down at him. “You don’t even know what it is, and you want us to just go ahead and do it?”

“Do…Don’t….Care……Do….Do it…”

Gabriel looks down at him for a moment before looking back up to his brothers. “Well, I guess he wants us to just go ahead and do it,” he looks to the thirdborn. “What do we do, Raph, we’ve never _actually_ had to do this before.”

The Healer nods slightly. “Just place your hand on their chest and reach out for their soul with your grace, you’ll know if the bond request is accepted, and you’ll know if it isn’t.”

They nod, Raphael and Lucifer leaving the oldest boy’s bedside to return to the youngest ones, Michael moves around his bed to lean over the right side, him and the Messenger exchange glances and reach out, pressing their hands to his chest.

Axel doesn’t feel anything at first, but then it comes, burning, it burns, and he whines, clenching his eyes closed, until consciousness slips away.

…

_“Where are we?”_

_“Michael?” They turn at the sound of his voice. “Gabriel?”_

_Raphael and Lucifer stare at them in surprise. Michael directs his attention to his third younger brother. “Raphael, what’s happening?”_

_“Now, this is just speculation, mind you, but I think this is their souls accepting our request, though it is a wonder how we’re together. Their souls must already be bonded.”_

_The scenery shifts around them, like wisps of smoke, changing color and shape, and the hospital room turns into the living room of the cabin._

**_“I’m gonna make that brat shut the hell up!”_ **

**_“Byron, Byron no! He’s just a baby! Byron!”_ ** _Peering down the hall, they see a woman, she’s beautiful, a true piece of art, skin the color of mocha, full milk chocolate curls framing her face, her eyes shining a bright green, struggling against a tall dark man, pulling him back by the arm. **“Axel! Axel, take Jamie and run! Hide! Take Jamie and hide!”**_

_A much younger version of their teenager comes running down the hall, he’s looks about nine or ten, and he skids to a stop in front of the playpen by the fireplace, bending over to lift the baby up into his arms. **“Come on, Jam, we’re gonna go play a game. You have to be real quite.”**_

_The sobbing of the baby falls silent as he stares up at his older brother, Axel looks down the hall, and runs for the door, throws it open, he darts outside, they follow, trying to keep up as the small boy runs through the woods, holding his baby brother as tightly as he can, looking over his shoulder every other breath._

**_“Axel, you get your ass back here!”_ **

_The baby whines softly, and the boy looks down at him and smiles, pressing a kiss to his forehead. **“It’s okay, Jam, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Big brother’s going to protect you.”**_

_“Raph, what are we seeing!” They follow them until Axel finds a crevice, and crawls inside carefully, watching whom they assume to be their father run passed them. “What is this?”_

_The Healer shrugs. “I don’t know. I’ve never requested a bond with a human soul before.”_

_They blink, and they’re back in the cabin, agonizing screams echo down the hall from the backroom, and before them sits the two brothers, still quite young, Jamie sitting in Axel’s lap, his hands pressed over his ears, tears trickling down his face, with Axel curled around him, holding him tightly, his hands curled over his baby brother’s ears too._

_Jamie breaths a sob and tilts his head, looking up at his older brother. **“A—A—Axy! M—Mommy!”**_

**_“I know baby brother, I know.”_ **

_The scene shifts again, and they turn as the door’s thrown open, Axel running inside. Jamie jumps from his corner and runs to him, ramming into his legs, screaming and yelling echoing from down the hall._

**_“I’m leaving, Byron! I’m leaving and I’m taking the boys with me! You’ll never see us again!”_ **

**_“Like hell you are, Patrice, you all belong to me!”_ **

_Jamie tugs desperately on the older boy’s shirt. **“Axy! Axy, you have to help mommy! You have to help mommy!”**_

**_“Byron, no! What are you doing! Byron, put that down!”_ **

**_“I’ll kill you all before I let you leave me!”_ **

_Tears stream down Jamie’s face. **“Axy! Axy, mommy! You have to help mommy!”**_

**_“Byron, just put it down! Put the gun down! You don’t want to do this!”_ **

**_“I’ll kill you and your precious boys before you can leave!”_ **

**_“Axel! Axel, help me!”_ **

_Axel pushes his brother back firmly. **“Jamie, stay here, not matter what you hear, you stay here, understand?”**_

**_“I understand.”_ **

**_“Good.”_ ** _They follow the youth as he runs down the hall, sliding to a stop in front of the storage closet, and he yanks the door open. There, on the top shelf, is a bulky black box, and Axel climbs up the shelves for it, straining to reach it, and falls back when he loses his grip, the black box falling with him. They know what this is. They know immediately. The boy opens the box with shaking hands, inside sits a hand gun, his hands shake as he loads bullets into the magazine and jams the clip into the gun, following after him as he pushes himself to his feet and runs down the hall, cocking the gun on his way, holding it up as his socked feet slide on the polished floor. **“Leave mommy alone!”**_

_The dark man turns to look at him. **“Gonna save your mommy, boy?”**_

**_“Axel, Axel, baby!”_ ** _The boy’s mom reaches out for him and the man steps forward, his gun trained on her, and she shrinks back. **“Axel, baby, mommy needs you to take care of Jamie, okay, you’re the greatest big brother he has, you need to take care of him, you need to protect him and love him, mommy needs you to take care of your baby brother, no matter what, you have to take care of your baby brother!”**_

_Axel’s voice cracks. **“Mommy, mommy it’s going to be okay, you’re gonna be here too!”**_

**_“Baby, mommy loves you so much, never forget how much I love you, you are my baby, my first baby, my miracle baby, mommy loves you so much, I’ll always be here, mommy will always be with you, no matter where you go, mommy will always be there—”_ ** _a loud bang cuts her off, and from down the hall Jamie screams, and they watch as their mother falls lifelessly back on the bed, their father turns to the boy in the door way, Axel stares at his mother’s body for a moment, before training his eyes back on his father. **“You killed mommy!”**_

**_“I’m gonna kill you two brats next, boy, nobody leaves me!”_ **

**_“I’m not going to let you touch Jamie, I won’t let you!”_ **

_The boy’s father trains his gun on the child. **“What are you going to do, boy, are you going to shoot me?”** He laughs, it’s not a nice laugh, it’s dark, evil, both guns fire at the same time, the father screams and drops his, blood oozing from his hand, and Axel screams, reaching up to clutch at his shoulder, his hands shake, one coated in blood, as he curls them around the gun again. **“You little—”** And his gun fires again, blood spurts from their fathers head as he falls to the floor, as lifeless as his poor wife, and Axels stares at him, his hands shaking wildly, and he drops the gun, spinning on his heel, and darts down the hall, they follow close behind. _

_Axel grabs Jamie’s hand and tugs him towards the door. **“Come on, Jam, we have to run, we have to hide!”**_

**_“Axy, mommy, what about mommy! Mommy has to come too!”_ **

**_“Mommy isn’t coming, Jam, mommy’s…..mommy’s not here anymore.”_ ** _He tugs the door open. **“But, I’ll protect you, I’m here, I’ll take care of you, everything’s going to be okay, I’ll make sure of it.”**_

…

Before any of them can make comment on what they just witnessed, they’re back in the hospital room, looking around, Jamie and Axel stare at them, sitting up in their beds.

The five years old rubs at his chest. “Raphy, what happened, I feel funny.”


End file.
